Uche Agbo has joined Watford on a five-year deal but will spend the whole of next season at Spanish side Granada on loan, according to owngoalnigeria.com. The 20-year old was tied to the Spanish club until 2018.

The deal is said to be similar to that of Aly Malle who also recently joined The Hornets from Malian but was also immediately loaned to Granada due to the fact that he is not eligible for a work permit to play in the Premier League. It is also understood that players Youssef Al-Arabi and Penaranda among others were part of the deal, which sees them owned by Watford but on loan to the Spanish club.

Both clubs were owned by the Pozzo family until Gino Pozzo recently sold his stake in Granada. This isn’t the first deal between the two this transfer window. The Hornets spent a club-record £12.5m on Nigerian striker Isaac Success earlier this month also on a five-year deal. The striker scored six goals in 30 appearances last season, as Granada narrowly missed relegation.

Towards the end of last season Agbo was elevated to the first team after making six appearances for the main team and 24 for Granada II in the lower league. Granada are hoping that the former Nigeria Under 20 ace will help them reach new heights this season after his promotion. He scored two goals for Granada II in 24 appearances last season.

Stumbling block avoided

Before the deal, Agbo’s representative Oliver Noah was quoted by allnigeriasoccer.com saying that the “negotiations are still pending” between the two clubs as if he was to go to Watford “then he must be paid higher than the wages he is getting at Granada”. The agent then admitted that, “Watford are the only club that have shown interest in him”.

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